The present invention relates generally to devices for cutting and removing materials from a surface. More particularly, the invention is directed to apparatus for safely, efficiently and economically removing asbestos and like materials from ceilings.
In recent years the health hazards of asbestos have become widely recognized, particularly identifying the material as a carcinogen. Accordingly, steps have been taken to halt its further use in environments where persons may be exposed to it. In those cases where asbestos is already in place as an insulation material, such as in schools and other public buildings, there has been an accelerated movement to have it removed. The removal and disposal of asbestos material from buildings has been generally tedious and expensive while being a constant health hazard to workmen and to others close to the work area. Heretofore, much of the asbestos removal work has involved hand labor using conventional scraping or abrading hand or power driven tools. Such conventional tools generate dangerous amounts of asbestos laden dust adjacent the work surface. This generation of asbestos dust commonly necessitates the use of plastic sheet material to form barriers to confine the dust within the space or within the room where the stripping work is being conducted. It can be readily appreciated that such hand work is slow, particularly, in hard to reach areas, such as high ceilings which also require the use of ladders and/or scaffolds. It is further seen that the technique of confining or sealing-off the work area, actually increases the health risks of the confined workers due to the dust concentration effects thereof.
In addition to the above generally used isolation technique for removing asbestos, it has been proposed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,274,676 and 4,438,977 to employ a liquid spray to first wet the asbestos material and to remove the wetted asbestos from walls by a cutter head and scraper assembly. The rather cumbersome apparatus which is required to apply, collect and recirculate liquid, and the attendant problems in operating a wet system, are apparent in the proposed apparatus of the cited patents. To my knowledge, such apparatus has not been widely used, if at all.